CHAPTER FOUR
– AZALEA –
My palms are still burning when my feet hit the lawn. I glance from my home to my palms and can’t believe I marked Karev with my essence. It’s a bodily function the way sweat seeps from your pores. It’s not a natural thing, though.
Being able to mark someone with my essence means only one thing; he’s my fated mate. Nothing else activates the need to mark a man as mine. The color is gone from my hands, and while my palms still burn there’s no other trace of evidence of what just happened.
“Ah, there you are.” My sister’s voice draws my attention.
I spin around, hide my hands behind my back and squeak, “Annetta.”
Annetta rushes toward me and grabs my shoulders. “Have you heard? Alora didn’t get her hellhound husband. She’s fuuuuuming. Like bursting into flames and spitting fire.”
Out of all of my family members, Annetta is the only one who actually interacts with me. Mostly for her own benefit, but at least it’s something, right?
“Daddy must be furious as well,” I murmur.
She bobs her head. “Yes, and no. I mean, he really wanted the deal to fall through, but the hellhound got here within the deadline. Nothing to do except find another one.” She snorts. “Except, there aren’t many hellhounds, and he needs one like yesterday.”
I need one like yesterday too, but definitely in a whole different way than my father does.
Ugh. The mere thought of his muscles makes my lower belly tingle.
Watching him shift earlier? Hotness on a sex-stick.
The man is...So. Damn. Big. Three heads, the fire, the power... he was absolutely captivating.
An immortal can only die by decapitation. A hellhound is the killing machine who is the exception to the rule. Meaning a hellhound can create a fire so hot, it can turn anyone into ash. Hellfire, they freaking breathe hellfire.
“Come. You’re late for the family meeting, as always. Dad has been trying to calm down Alora while we were waiting for you. Where were you?” Annetta asks.
“Flying around.” I shrug.
Annetta rolls her eyes. “You’re always flying around, it drives Dad insane.”
Everything drives Dad insane, so it doesn’t make much of a difference what I do. Anetta hooks her arm in mine and pulls me in the direction of the house. I can hear my sister screeching once we step inside.
I wince at the volume of my sister’s voice when we get closer to the living room until I hear her say, “I don’t want another man. I don’t want another hellhound. I. Want. Him.”
Like fuck she’ll get Karev. My fingers curl into fists and I have the urge to rip my sister’s head clean off.
We step inside the living room and my father whirls around. “Oh, good, you’re both here. Come, sit.”
I take a deep breath and try to calm down.
My attention is pulled away from Karev when my father comes to a stop in front of me. “You, Azalea, are a disappointment. Why do you feel the need to harass the werewolves? They are my employees and you need to treat them with respect, not throw things at them. You’re acting like a spoiled child.”
My molars grind together as I take the verbal hits my father gives me. There’s no need to defend myself because he’d never believe me anyway. Over the past few years, I’ve found it easier to just stay quiet, nod, and be done with it.
“Can we focus on me instead of the little shit who always causes trouble?” Alora snaps.
I narrow my eyes at her and my father sighs.
“Alora, as I’ve mentioned, we need to start looking for another hellhound.
Besides, we don’t even know if Karev was an alpha.
Not to mention, Karev is the vice president of one of the Kings of Anarchy chapters.
They have chapters in every state and are a tight brotherhood.
Their damn slogan is ‘nobody fucks with the Kings.’ I just have to get rid of a rogue hellhound, not invoke another damn war in my territory.
A territory they probably think is theirs. ”
“A rogue hellhound gone nuts because of Alora. Surprise, surprise,” Annetta mutters under her breath, making the corner of my mouth twitch.
Our father bobs his head, and it shows he heard Annetta, as did Alora who looks ready to spit fire.
In an effort to break the tension, I ask the question that popped into my head when our father mentioned it. “How do you know if a hellhound is an alpha?”
Alora huffs. “An alpha has three heads, stupid.”
I drop my gaze to the floor in an effort to hide my reaction. Holy shit. Three heads. Karev has three heads.
Wait. “There are hellhounds with different amounts of heads?”
“Azalea.” Annetta smacks my knee. “How can you not know Drexel had two heads? When Alora found out she insulted him and dumped his ass because he told her he was a powerful hellhound. She assumed he was an alpha, but he clearly isn’t.”
How can I not know? Easy; because no one tells me anything and always ignores me.
Being the youngest practically makes me invisible.
Not to mention, the books I read on hellhounds didn’t give any of the specifics, just global stuff.
Shit. I didn’t even know Alora had something with a hellhound, and it being the reason why he wants our father’s head.
On the other hand, Alora has a thing for bad boys.
It drives our father nuts because as the oldest he needs her to stay a virgin and take a husband.
Preferably a fated mate to secure powerful offspring.
Though, I think my father doesn’t care about such a thing and just wants her out of the house and become someone else’s problem.
In an effort to steer the discussion away from Karev once and for all, I ask, “How do we find another hellhound?”
“We don’t because they don’t grow on trees, stupid,” Alora snarls.
I take a menacing step forward and feel my power flowing through my veins and raising to the surface.
A sheen of red electricity dances over my skin when I snarl, “Call me stupid again and it will be the end of your existence.”
The three of them all gape at me as if I’ve lost my head instead of me threatening to rip off Alora’s.
Alora shakes her head and shoves her nose into the air as if I’m beneath her. “Are you trying to act like a grown-up? Newsflash, little sister. You’re still the youngest. Completely incompetent.”
The youngest? Act like a fucking grown-up? We’re triplets, meaning we were born on the same damn day.
“Hush,” my father grunts. “There are more pressing matters than bickering with your sister. Now, Alora. If you’ve finally calmed down, I can handle some business while you go to your room and...”
Alora cuts him off with a whiny voice, “But Dad, I can go after Karev and...”
“No,” he snaps. “You will not. I don’t want to hear his name again in this house. This discussion is over.”
He throws a glance at the open door and bellows one of the names of the werewolves, the man comes running.
“Escort Alora to her room and make sure she stays there,” he orders.
Alora huffs and stomps out of the room.
“One day she’s going to explode, and I hope I’m not in the same room when she does,” Annetta mutters.
I snort and it earns both of us a glare from our father.
“I have work to do,” he snaps and strides out of the room.
Waiting a few heartbeats to make sure father and Alora are gone, I tell my sister, “If she’s the one who caused a bull’s-eye on father’s head...why doesn’t he give her to Drexel? It will solve all of our problems.”
Annetta giggles and slaps a hand over her mouth.
With still some laughter in her voice she says, “I totally agree. Though, you know father can’t lose face. He’s the head of the Maryland underworld and having a hellhound spit on his name is not something he can accept.”
I bob my head, knowing she’s right. I’ve never bothered to pay attention to whatever business they discuss.
It’s not something I’m allowed to help with anyway.
Alora, as the oldest, holds all the responsibility.
Annetta and I are merely the backup plan.
Well, I’m the backup’s backup plan, but whatever.
“I’m gonna go outside,” I tell her.
Annetta’s voice is teasing when she says, “Don’t annoy the werewolves. I picked up the desire for murder from one of them and his main focus was you.”
I give her a one finger wave, making her laugh flow through the room. The grin on my face slides away when I step around the corner and almost bump into the werewolf I hit on the head with part of a statue.
“Watch it,” he snarls.
The fury is still running through me when I whisper back, “You watch it.”
It’s easy to push my fury outward and without laying a hand on the werewolf, I blast him backwards, making him fall on his ass. He’s trying to scramble to his feet when I make myself invisible and glide through the walls to escape the place that’s slowly suffocating me.
Normally, I’d go to the roof and watch the sun go down, waiting for the stars to pierce through the darkness. Yet, tonight there’s something else I’d like to watch...or rather...someone else.
Making sure no one is following me, I let the wind catch my wings and fly in the direction of a certain alpha hellhound.
One who doesn’t even know about my existence.
Let alone that his fated mate is a fury, one whose father wants to chain an alpha hellhound to his services to clean up a mess my sister made.